Young citizens and civic learning: two paradigms of citizenship in the digital age

Abstract

How can civic education keep pace with changing political identifications and practices of new generations of citizens? This paper examines research on school-based civic education in different post-industrial democracies with the aim of deriving a set of core learning categories that offer a starting point for thinking about how to address changing citizen identity styles and learning opportunities in various online and offline environments. The preponderance of school-based civic education programs reflects traditional paradigms of dutiful citizenship (DC) oriented to government through parties and voting, with citizens forming attentive publics who follow events in the news. The authors expand upon these conventional learning categories by identifying additional civic learning opportunities that reflect more self-actualizing (AC) styles of civic participation common among recent generations of youth who have been termed digital natives. Their AC learning styles favor interactive, networked activities often communicated through participatory media such as videos shared across online networks. The result is an expanded set of learning categories that recognize the value of different citizenship styles and emerging online environments that may supplement or supplant school civics.

Keywords:

• citizenship
• citizen identity
• civic learning
• civic education
• civic learning online
• civic media

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the generous support of the Digital Media and Learning initiative of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the helpful suggestions of three anonymous reviewers. The assistance of Deen Freelon and Daniel Weisberg in helping with the literature review is also gratefully acknowledged.

Notes

1. For example, here are the coding instructions for DC and AC versions of communication/expression learning opportunities, with the first instruction referring coders to a DC learning opportunity and the second instruction screening for presence or absence of an AC learning opportunity:

Many sites want to help users express their views about public issues or concerns. Sites may encourage users to express themselves in a variety of ways. Looking at the pages selected from this site: (for DC expression) Do any of the pages present users with training on how to communicate using traditional forms of public communication? For example, the site may offer templates or toolkits on writing letters to the editor or to a political representative, calling or contacting a legislator, running a canvass, or bringing a speaker to campus. They may also offer guidelines – like do's and dont's – for communicating effectively in those ways. (for AC expression) Do any of the pages present users with training on how to communicate effectively with digital media they can produce themselves? For example the page may offer templates or toolkits on how to create a blog or webpage, or tips on creating videos or podcasts. How to create media in general or how to post content on the site are included. They may also offer guidelines – like do's and dont's – for communicating effectively in those ways.